A Special Insight into the City of Melville Arts program I don’t know what other members were expecting when Marcus Dickson stood up to speak to us recently, but it certainly wasn’t what I had anticipated. Marcus is the City’s Events and Programming co-ordinator. He decided to tell us all about himself and what a treat that turned out to be. Firstly, Marcus grew up in Applecross and later on the family moved "all the way" to Ardross. Little wonder he needed Google Maps to find his way to Bull Creek and Leeming, but more of that later. The river was important to him growing up, and gave up its prawns to him and his friends many times on balmy summer evenings. After he left school he found a job in Fremantle (even further from Bull Creek and Leeming) and worked for 16 years at the Fremantle Arts Centre. He “came home” to Applecross three years ago, working at City Hall (aka the Civic Centre) for Creative Director Zoe Atkinson. One of his jobs was to make the arts (mostly music) more accessible to those who live in Melville, and as an example, he has happy memories of organising a music event called Goodnight Bull Creek featuring the music of Zebadiah ( https://soundcloud.com/zebadiah-zoolkoski). Around 1500 people attended. The event was held at Bob Gordon Reserve in Benningfield Rd, Bull Creek, which happens to have a “spaceship” in the kids playground, similar to the one that used to be on the corner of Leach Highway and Karel Ave, Willeton (also in Melville!).  Marcus thinks this is a good example of bringing arts to the people to help them think and feel differently about the world, and obviously LotteryWest think it's a good enough idea to sponsor. Marcus finished by sharing an unexpected feeling he experienced when driving past the two places he grew up in, in Applecross and Ardross. The houses he lived in are no longer there, which he found strangely sad, like an important connection he had with those places had been lost. It led to him wondering if this feeling of connectedness was what Aboriginal people talk about: their spiritual connection to the land of their birth and growth. This has led to him wanting to learn more about the Dreamtime and its stories and songs, and a stronger empathy and respect for the Indigenous people who walked the land where we live and work, 65,000 years ago ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_Australians).  for the ZOOM recording of Marcus's presentation.
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